Nvidia's AI chip sales in China stall, as local chipmakers like Huawei take the lead - marketscreener.com

Recent stagnation in NVIDIA's AI chip sales in China reflects the rapid rise of domestic semiconductor manufacturers and intensified competition. As local companies like Huawei gain market share throu... Read original →

NVIDIA’s stalled AI chip sales in China stem not from product failure but from a forced decoupling that turbocharges domestic substitution. Huawei’s Ascend 910B, while still lagging H100 in raw compute density, crosses the 'good-enough' threshold for large model training—triggering algorithmic and software stack migration toward local hardware, creating a self-reinforcing loop. U.S. export controls inflate NVIDIA’s compliance overhead; its China-specific chips require extra validation layers, eroding delivery speed. Meanwhile, Huawei leverages SMIC’s N+2 process and localized EDA tools to build a geopolitically resilient supply chain. To counter share loss, NVIDIA may reluctantly open CUDA compatibility—but at the cost of diluting its core ecosystem moat. Over the next 18 months, China’s AI chip market will bifurcate: high-end dominated by domestic 7nm-class chips, mid-to-low tiers squeezed by price wars. This isn’t just market share reallocation—it’s the nascent fracture of global AI infrastructure standards.